We're taking our kids to Disneyland Park in early August for a few days, flying into LAX on a Saturday morning. We realize that the drive from LAX to Anaheim will be an e-ticket ride in itself , so we're ready for that. Our last visit was 3 years ago. I have read about the new addition to Disneyland Park that is now under construction. Can anyone give me any details on the traffic situation in the Disneyland area? How about the parking situation? Our hotel is located across the street from Disneyland....is it still safe to walk to the Park? Any information will be much appreciated.

Judy,
You are right in becoming prepared for the traffic on the 5 freeway, it is always somewhat of a nightmare! What has happened, to the best of my knowledge, is that you can get off at the Harbor exit or the Ball Rd exit, and both will take you to parking lots. The parking lot from Harbor is much smaller, and probably fills up much faster than the one off of Ball, which is fairly large. As for walking across the street to Disney, it depends on where you are at. If your hotel is across the street on the Harbor side, you should be fine. They have a large crosswalk, although you are kind of on your own when you have to cross against the traffic that is coming in through the parking ticket booths, that is an area to be careful. If you are on the Ball side of the road, you will have to go the the Harbor side to get in as pedestrians, I haven't seen any places where pedestrians can enter due to the construction on the Ball side. I hope this helps, and I think my info is correct, but it seems like the situation changes almost daily.

Judy, the traffic around Disneyland is beyond hideous. If you aren't going anywhere except Disneyland, here's a suggestion. Try the Airport Express bus service from LAX to Disneyland Hotel. It's about $22 roundtrip, takes about 1 hour, and stops only one other place in Buena Park. Once at Disneyland Hotel, your hotel shuttle could pick you up or you could take a taxi. Just a thought. Have fun!

On the other hand -- if you are only going to Disneyland and not L.A., consider flying into Orange County then take a shuttle to the hotel. There's ALWAYS a traffic jam on 405 around LAX, it will take you more than hour. You should be able to get there in an hour or better on I5 from O.C. It's that much closer. The freeways aren't quite so bad on a weekend (as opposed to weekdays with everyone going to/from work), but surface streets are bad around the park. Across which street? If your hotel is across the street then just walk over, it would be silly to drive, just cross at the lights.

I went there for Valentine's Day. The trip between my mom's house and Disneyland SHOULD HAVE BEEN a half-hour, but was TWO HOURS, including all the time circling around looking for an available lot. What a nightmare. If there is ANY OTHER WAY TO GET THERE, please take it. I am 27 years old but I was very very cranky after that - I can;t imagine how kids would take it.

Yes, it is very safe to walk around the park to your hotel. There will be swarms of people and appropriate security.

Hello Everyone - Thanks for the info on the construction zone around Disneyland. The express bus from LAX was offered in our vacation package but we decided not to take it because we were advised by others that it was a joke, so we opted for a car rental. This will also give us the freedom to explore beyond Disneyland. We are flying on Southwest Airlines and they don't have a flight into Orange County from where I live in central Texas, only to LAX. I was happy just to get a non-stop flight even to LAX, since I'm traveling with kids.

I wouldn't worry about the traffic to Disneyland. I would worry about the traffic in Disneyland. When my daughter was younger, we would go to Disneyland at least twice a year, but always on a weekday in the sping or fall. As an example, a friend of mine took his children to Disneyland last summer and literally rode only three rides after spending most of the time in lines.

Judy,
I grew up in Anaheim, but have not lived there for the past 7 years. When I reluctantly drive back to my folks house (3 miles from Disneyland), I'm always astonished at the amount of construction. Never mind the traffic, I'm astonished when off-ramps are shut down. If it wasn't for my knowledge of local streets, I don't know if I would ever arrive at my destination. I would suggest carrying an up-to-the minute city map every time you get in the car. Even if you only go a few blocks. If you're staying near the park, walk at every opportunity. It's safe. As stated above, you should take a shuttle bus from LAX into Disneyland Hotel. If you need a car, you could always rent one in town. For a nice break, visit Newport Beach, which is about 20 minutes from Anaheim. Have fun.

Just a suggestion for possible future trips -- take the plane to Las Vegas and stay the night (see a show, let the kids swim), then take a plane into O.C.

BTW -- from LAX, take the 405 south until it runs into the 22, Garden Grove Freeway, take the 22 to the Magnolia St. off-ramp (there are other streets like Brookhurst and Euclid if you should miss Magnolia). Then, go north on Magnolia (or other) until you reach Cerritos (one block north of Katella) make a right onto Cerritos and go east until you run smack into the backside of Disneyland. This is probably the least traffic method. The freeway traffic probably won't be too bad on a Saturday, but the park will probably be crowded. And, check a map to mark the above.

I just finished a trip to Disneyland with my family. The Monorail Situation had me down, it was worst than waiting for some disney rides sometimes.. We stayed at the DisneyLand resort and were awoken at 7:30 AM to the beeping of tractors cranes and steam rollers, the view out of our room was dirt construction workers, lots of contruction equipment, If you stay at Disneyresort request facing the pool area, stay away from the Sierra tower facing out, the construction is an eye sore. Look for better means of transportation to and from the park other than Monorail if it still under construction this summer that is.., take warnings about things being under construciton seriously ask your travel agent or Disney whats going on with transportation..

The candycane Inn does well with it's shuttles they are always at the front gate and I've heard from other agents there service is great, book early.

PS: I waited 1 hour and 15 minutes in line just to check in at Disneyland resort, unreasonable, right?

I from the midwest and have been to Disneyland three times in the last 7-8 years. The last time was this last summer. My wife and I stayed at the Disney Resort for 5 days. We had a similar problem with a long wait to check in. They automatically bumped us up to a corner suite. It was a great suite, large, three balconies, etc.

Most of the hotels in the area offer free shuttles to and from Disneyland. I would recommend you do that versus walking. With the contstruction, you will have to walk quite a ways out of your way to get to the main entry gate.

Also I suggest any of the local site seeing tours by Gray Line. They do an excellent job and I felt I got my monies worth. I've used them not only in LA, but other cities as well.

If you do the Hollywood homes tour, make sure to take a tour that uses an oversided van, not a tour bus. The tour buses are not allowed in the residental areas. All they will do is drive down a major streets and say, up that street is so and so's home. With the vans you drive right in front of the homes.

If you have younger children I think they would enjoy Knottsberry Farm.

I also enjoyed Universal Studio, Medival Times (get your reservations a few days in advance for this), Ripley's Believe-it-or-not (kids probably will not enjoy this one), Six Flags (its quite a trip for Anaheim, but if you love amusement parks, this one's top notch) and a day trip to San Diego Sea World.

Bottomline. My wife and I enjoy the Anaheim area and look forward to taking another trip when the contruction is finished. Which I believe is the first of 2001.